Source: [East Asia Forum]
Authors: Alistair D. B. Cook and Caitríona H. Heinl, RSIS
Human traffickers have an increasing number of targets online in Southeast Asia. The ASEAN region has a growing population of over 600 million — and internet users have doubled. Technology-facilitated trafficking is more diffuse and adaptive than initially thought, but online tools can also be creatively employed to counter cross-border trafficking.
Continue:
http://concernedyapcitizens.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/east-asia-forum-human-trafficking-in-asia-going-online/
Showing posts with label ASEAN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ASEAN. Show all posts
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Monday, April 29, 2013
ASEAN experts meet in Manila to draft anti-human trafficking pact | Kyodo News
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2013/04/221793.html
Source: Kyodo News
Source: Kyodo News
Experts from member countries of the Association of Southeast Nations began Thursday a two-day meeting in the Philippine capital to draft a binding mechanism and a plan of action to combat the problem of human trafficking.
Philippine Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar said participants from the regional bloc, of which only Myanmar did not send a delegate, aim to produce a working draft of the proposed ASEAN Convention on Trafficking in Persons, which is the legally binding framework, and a Regional Plan of Action to complement the former.
Salazar told reporters after the opening ceremony of the meeting, which is the third since 2011, that they hope to have both the ASEAN Convention and the RPA in place on or before the time the ASEAN Economic Community is established in 2015.
Saying that victims of human trafficking, mainly for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation, are estimated to be in millions, and that "the ascent of trafficking in persons" has become "the most expansive form of transnational crime in this day and age," Salazar urged the meeting participants to be "unfazed and undaunted as we dissect the features and issues of the Convention and the Plan of Action."
"The partnership requires that we open our door to one another in the effort to synchronize our methods and processes of law enforcement and adjudication. The spirit of cooperation and collaboration allows for that," Salazar said in his keynote address at the meeting.
Philippine Undersecretary Felizardo Serapio, head of the country's Center on Transnational Crime, said the ASEAN Convention may include criminalization of trafficking in persons, protection of victims, and regional cooperation and mutual legal assistance on investigation and prosecution.
"The regional convention will promote and consolidate regional cooperation and initiatives to combat, prevent and suppress trafficking in persons, particularly women and children. It will also serve as the regional framework to enhance regional efforts to protect and assist the victims of trafficking and other similar forms of exploitation," he said.
The Regional Plan of Action, on the other hand, "will be a strong impetus to enhance regional cooperation and coordination on this issue."
"One without the other will already be beneficial, but it would not be as robust an effort compared to when both are determinedly pursued by all," Serapio said.
Salazar said the meeting's output will be submitted to the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting in Vietnam in June this year, and hopefully, will subsequently be elevated to the ministerial level.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Cyclists urge ASEAN to combat human trafficking | ABS-CBN News
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/04/28/13/cyclists-urge-asean-combat-human-trafficking
Source: ABS-CBN News
04/28/2013
Source: ABS-CBN News
04/28/2013
MANILA -- Dakila, an artist collective organizing the Freedom Rides for a Human Trafficking Free Philippines, is urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to come up with a regional comprehensive approach to fight trafficking.
“We hope that the ASEAN Experts Working Group meeting here in the Philippines will come up with a more integrated, cohesive and structured mechanisms to report and monitor human trafficking in Southeast Asia,” said Ayeen Karunungan, spokesperson of the group.
Dakila launched its Stop Look Listen Campaign with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, cycling groups like Manila Fixed Gear, Bikers 101, NOBA and iFOLD, and several NGOs to help curb human trafficking in the country.
The Freedom Rides being held across the country gathers cyclists and advocates as Freedom Warriors promoting the 1343 Action Hotline on human trafficking.
The campaign kicked off last March 9 in Metro Manila with 1,000 cyclists including Ambassadors Ton Boon von Ochssee of the Embassy of the Netherlands, Josef Rychtar of the Czech Embassy and Guy Ledoux of the European Union, participating in the Freedom Ride.
Another Freedom Ride was held in Iloilo last April 20 and mobilized 500 participants – the biggest and broadest bike tour ever in Panay island.
“While we recognize that our government partners in this campaign – the Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking under the leadership of Secretary Leila de Lima and Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission led by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., have been pushing for stronger measures and initiating programs to help solve the problem of human trafficking in the Philippines, there is still a need for a more comprehensive action plan to address this regional problem,” Karunungan said.
Monday, March 18, 2013
'Interference' key to solving Asean human trafficking | Bangkok Post: news
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/340790/interference-key-to-solving-asean-human-trafficking
Source: Bangkok Post: news
16 Mar 2013
Human trafficking is a day-to-day reality in many parts of the world, with women and children the primary victims.
Source: Bangkok Post: news
16 Mar 2013
Human trafficking is a day-to-day reality in many parts of the world, with women and children the primary victims.
There are four Asean bodies currently dealing with human trafficking. One thing is common among them: they don't talk to each other.
The four bodies are:
- The Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights, which has included human trafficking as one of the priority issues in its five-year working plan;
- The Asean Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, which included the trafficking of women as part of its plan for the elimination of violence against women;
- The Asean Committee on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, which has touched on the issue in its four-years-and-still-ongoing debate about the instruments needed to protect migrant workers in the region;
- The Senior Official Meeting on Transnational Organised Crime, which discussed human trafficking in the draft of the Asean Convention on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (ACTIP).
Discussions on the ACTIP have been now been stalled for more than two years since it was firstly proposed by the Philippines in 2011.
Content-wise, the draft is problematic for two reasons.
First, it focuses heavily on organised crime while largely overlooking the human rights element of human trafficking. Secondly, it includes a "non-interference" clause.
Within the human rights framework, trafficking in persons represents the situation of someone being held under another's control due to a lack of economic choice and/or access.
Moreover, the lack of status and rights guaranteed by international human rights laws increases people's vulnerability to trafficking. In effect, human rights violations are both a cause and a result of trafficking in people.
Framing the treaty with such a heavy focus on organised crime will further isolate victims from the structure that is supposed to protect them. It makes prevention, protection and the promotion of state cooperation more important than individual human rights.
Ignoring human rights and focusing on organised crime essentially renders the value of victims as mere "evidence" in criminal cases.
The level of protection offered to victims will be dependent on their usefulness to an investigation or prosecution.
Instead, the ACTIP should widen its focus to provide a legal framework to protect trafficked persons and individuals at risk of being trafficked, while still targeting individuals accused or convicted of trafficking-related offences, defining their entitlements and holding duty-bearers to account.
It should also not miss the opportunity to set up mechanisms to receive complaints and to supervise the implementation of the convention at the national level.
Often, governments are reluctant to accept legal responsibility for human trafficking and for corresponding human rights violations because they claim criminals groups committed the crime, not the government itself.
Some governments simply argue that they have done everything to prevent the harm, and they are therefore not responsible.
In this respect, the ACTIP should apply a standard of due diligence which holds governments responsible for failures to prevent, investigate, prosecute or compensate for human trafficking offences.
Each government has an obligation to prevent and respond to acts by private entities that hinder human rights.
As human trafficking is a transborder issue that naturally involves more than one country, does the principle of non-interference really serve as a better measure to combat human trafficking?
Non-interference is a key principle of many inter-governmental relationships worldwide.
The problem here is that non-interference is the only "institutional principle" to which Asean has been effectively, and to some extent religiously, committed.
The 1967 Bangkok Declaration stated that member states were determined to prevent external interference in order to ensure domestic and regional stability.
External interference has been interpreted as involvement in the domestic affairs of states that ranges from even the softest political commentary to coercive military intervention that would undermine national sovereignty.
But in many situations, the principle has not been absolute in its practice.
In 2005, for instance, Asean heads of state called for the release of political prisoners under detention.
In 2007, Asean urged the military junta in Myanmar to continue working with the UN in order to open up a meaningful dialogue with now-opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The strict application of the principle in combating human trafficking in the region would do significant harm to women and children.
The ACTIP should expand, rather than limit, rights protection by including positive obligations for member states such as legislative reform instead of the negative obligation of non-interference.
As Asean moves towards a more people-oriented community and is increasingly interdependent among its member states, the principle of non-interference will not only make the region more susceptible to human trafficking, but will make the association fail to achieve ongoing relevance and credibility among its own citizens and on the broader global scene.
Yuyun Wahyuningrum works as a senior adviser on Asean and human rights at the Human Rights Working Group, a Jakarta-based coalition of NGOs working on human rights issues.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thailand remains major centre for human trafficking
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Asia/Story/A1Story20120628-355896.html
Many locals and job-seekers from neighbouring countries continue to be ensnared in the sex industry or trapped in slave labour despite the enactment of the Anti-Human-Trafficking Act in 2008, "Thailand is still a source, transit and destination in human trade," Yanee Lertkrai, inspector-general of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, said yesterday.
Several border provinces in the North and Northeast are the starting points. "The victims are sent from there to other provinces in Thailand and often to a third country," she said.
Today, the victims also come from nearby countries such as Laos, Myanmar and even China. Nukool Chinfuk of Hat Yai University's Political Science Faculty has conducted research on the problem and found that it is getting very serious in the South.
"Some gangs have brought Myanmar people to Ranong, from where some are sent to Samut Sakhon, while some others are sent to Thailand's lower Southern region, Malaysia and Singapore," he said.
More than 120 establishments are offering sex services in Songkhla's Sadao district alone, he said. Most of the sex workers there come from Thailand's northern and northeastern regions as well as China and Laos.
"The longer the problem persists, the younger the victims become," he said.
Many sources put the ages of the youngest victims of prostitution at 11-15. They enter the flesh trade in the hope of providing financial support to their impoverished families.
Pol Lt-Colonel Jatuporn Arun-rerkthawin from the Department of Special Investigation said Chinese-speaking women were now much in demand among customers of brothels in the South.
"Those places serve many Chinese-Malaysians," he said. "Women from countries north of Thailand have nice skin and good |figures."
Pol Captain Yin Yin Ae, head of anti-human-trafficking in Myan-mar's Tachilek, said late last year that joint operations with Thai officials had rescued 36 Myanmar girls younger than 18 from a human-smuggling gang.
"These girls left their home towns without knowing that they would be forced into prostitution," he said. "After they crossed the border, they were sold to a Thai agent who locked them up and beat them in a bid to force them into the flesh trade."
Another source said many Myanmar girls were brought into Thailand via Tak's Mae Sot district or Chiang Rai and sent to a holding centre for training in sex services. "The good-looking ones will be taken to Bangkok and the rest to the southern border provinces," the source said.
Since Thailand clearly has many human-trafficking routes, it still appeared in Tier 2 of the Watch List of the US State Department's report on human trafficking this year.
Boys and men are not exempt, because many of them are forced into backbreaking work on fishing trawlers.
Yanee said her ministry was trying hard to suppress human trafficking and urged anyone with a tip-off to call her ministry's 1300 hotline.
Pol Lt-General Pongpat Chaya-phan, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said he hoped that the upcoming Asean Economic Community in 2015 would make |it easier to stamp out human traffickers.
"The loopholes in the different regulations and laws used by |each country will be reduced," he said. When the databases of various countries are linked, prevention of human trafficking will also get a big boost.
"Cooperation will help a lot. We have to do our best," he said.
The bureau has compiled criminal records and continues to try out new techniques and procedures to raise efficiency in its operations.
"We have sent some staff to Britain and Canada to improve our investigations. We have also worked with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in trying to solve the problem," he said.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Human trafficking film to air on MRTV
http://www.mmtimes.com/2012/timeout/618/timeout61804.htmlV
Source: The Mynmar Times
By Nyein Ei Ei Htwe
Source: The Mynmar Times
By Nyein Ei Ei Htwe
Volume 31, No. 618
March 12 - 18, 2012
March 12 - 18, 2012
THE Music Television End Exploitation and Trafficking (MTV EXIT) campaign has produced a documentary on human trafficking in Myanmar, which will premiere on MRTV and MRTV-4 later this month, the film’s director said last week.
The film, titled Enslaved, was produced by MTV EXIT in partnership with the Central Body for Suppression of Trafficking in Persons (CBTIP), Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Australian Government Aid Program (AusAID), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
According to the MTV EXIT website (www.mtvexit.org), Enslaved “documents the real-life experiences of people involved in the trafficking chain”.
“Three brave survivors tell of their harrowing experiences: Kyi Kyi, a woman trafficked to China for marriage; Ko Min, a man trafficked onto a fishing boat in Thailand; and Vatsana, a woman sold by a friend to carry out domestic labour for over 10 years with no pay in Thailand,” the website said.
Mr Matt Love, the film’s director and the Myanmar campaign director for MTV EXIT, told The Myanmar Times that he hoped the documentary would educate viewers about human trafficking and the need for all nations to cooperate in stopping the problem.
“We created a specific story with the experiences of three victims, police officers and NGOs workers in Myanmar. … We also worked with local production teams and we hope to present a strong message to the audience,” he said.
The documentary is narrated by rock vocalist R Zar Ni, who said he accepted the job because he knew that human trafficking was a big problem in Myanmar.
“We started working on the film last June and finished recently. I narrate the story, which is about people from Myanmar being trafficked to China and other countries. The film also includes interviews with real victims,” R Zar Ni said.
“By watching the documentary we can learn about trafficking and understand the feelings of the victims. It is everyone’s responsibility to end trafficking, but first they need to know how to end it.”
Enslaved marks MTV EXIT’s second foray into Myanmar to make a documentary about human trafficking. The first visit occurred in 2009 as part of a film exploring the issue across Asia.
“For the first film we interviewed trafficking victims from Myanmar, the Philippines and Malaysia,” Mr Love said, adding that celebrities from different countries took part in the project, including singer Phyu Phyu Kyaw Thein from Myanmar
He said MTV EXIT has been making educational documentaries about human trafficking since 2004, using music and local celebrities to help raise public interest.
“Our campaign mainly focuses on Asia, even though trafficking is happening all over the world. According to UN records, half of all victims come from Asia,” he said.
Mr Love said the specifics of the human trafficking problem differ from country to country.
“Most Myanmar women are trafficked to China for marriages and Myanmar men are trafficked to Thailand to work in the fishing industries,” he said.
He said his organisation, in cooperation with the Myanmar government and non-government organisation partners, starting conducting research for Enslaved in Myanmar about nine months ago.
“We researched human trafficking and found recent stories for the documentary, so I believe we made a film that can highlight the people of the country,” he said.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
ASEAN Partners with MTV EXIT
http://www.ungift.org/knowledgehub/stories/december2011/asean-partners-with-mtv-exit.html
(
MTV EXIT) - MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (
ASEAN) have joined forces to
promote human security for ASEAN citizens in the battle against
trafficking in persons in Southeast Asia.
MTV EXIT, supported by the United States and Australian Governments, produces cutting-edge multimedia content, such as free live concerts, public service announcements (PSAs), music videos, and documentary films to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and exploitation.
The partnership was announced as the MTV EXIT campaign returns to Cambodia for a free live concert at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Pehn, headlined by Korean band After School, and American pop band The Click Five. MTV EXIT has held 27 concerts across Asia over the past two and a half years, including events in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste. Concerts will be held in other ASEAN countries next year.
Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Political-Security Community, Sayakane Sisouvong, who was present at the concert expressed that, "Being one of the most powerful means and tools with today's advanced technology and the growth of social media, the music, the film and celebrities, we believe that MTV EXIT can certainly make an additional contribution to ASEAN in its continued effort to reach out to young people in their campaign to increase awareness of the issue through families, friends and neighbors."
MTV EXIT's collaboration with renowned international and local celebrities around the world seeks to build a stronger affinity with youth and keep this global problem relevant to them with the objective to inspire and empower youth to drive local action against a global problem by spreading the message to their communities.
MTV EXIT's new celebrity ambassador to Cambodia, Dr. Chea Samnang said, "Human trafficking is modern day slavery and it is an issue that affects all of us, including my family and yours. It is a crime that needs to be addressed and stopped, which starts with you and me. Let us join the fight together to end this critical issue in Cambodia and in ASEAN."
ASEAN has taken measures to intensify the efforts to curb the issue of trafficking in persons as it threatens the stability and prosperity of the region. At the 18 th ASEAN Summit held in May 2011, ASEAN Heads of State agreed to strengthen regional and international cooperation to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, enhance cooperation within existing frameworks and instruments, and emphasized the protection of the rights of victims.
"The U.S. Government is committed to ending modern-day slavery. We are proud to work in partnership with MTV EXIT, ASEAN and Australia," said David L. Carden, U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN.
Last week in Phnom Penh, MTV EXIT also hosted the first-ever MTV EXIT National Anti-Trafficking Youth Forum in Cambodia co-organized with World Vision Cambodia to empower and engage youth leaders from across the country to spread key anti-trafficking messages. The Forum brought together youth leaders ages 18 to 25 years old for a series of interactive workshops conducted by media professionals over 4 days. The Forum strengthened the youth leaders' creative skills, while challenging them to produce a campaign plan to take the fight against human trafficking back to their local communities.
H.E. Penny Richards, the Australian Ambassador to Cambodia said, "The rise of being trafficked is a real one for far too many people living in Southeast Asia. Australia is a proud supporter of MTV EXIT and continues to work closely with ASEAN and the United States on this issue of shared international concern."
For more details about human trafficking and exploitation in Asia, visit www.mtvexit.org or follow MTV EXIT on the following social media platforms: Twitter@mtvexit and www.facebook.com/mtvexit
(
MTV EXIT) - MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (
ASEAN) have joined forces to
promote human security for ASEAN citizens in the battle against
trafficking in persons in Southeast Asia.MTV EXIT, supported by the United States and Australian Governments, produces cutting-edge multimedia content, such as free live concerts, public service announcements (PSAs), music videos, and documentary films to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and exploitation.
The partnership was announced as the MTV EXIT campaign returns to Cambodia for a free live concert at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Pehn, headlined by Korean band After School, and American pop band The Click Five. MTV EXIT has held 27 concerts across Asia over the past two and a half years, including events in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste. Concerts will be held in other ASEAN countries next year.
Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Political-Security Community, Sayakane Sisouvong, who was present at the concert expressed that, "Being one of the most powerful means and tools with today's advanced technology and the growth of social media, the music, the film and celebrities, we believe that MTV EXIT can certainly make an additional contribution to ASEAN in its continued effort to reach out to young people in their campaign to increase awareness of the issue through families, friends and neighbors."
MTV EXIT's collaboration with renowned international and local celebrities around the world seeks to build a stronger affinity with youth and keep this global problem relevant to them with the objective to inspire and empower youth to drive local action against a global problem by spreading the message to their communities.
MTV EXIT's new celebrity ambassador to Cambodia, Dr. Chea Samnang said, "Human trafficking is modern day slavery and it is an issue that affects all of us, including my family and yours. It is a crime that needs to be addressed and stopped, which starts with you and me. Let us join the fight together to end this critical issue in Cambodia and in ASEAN."
ASEAN has taken measures to intensify the efforts to curb the issue of trafficking in persons as it threatens the stability and prosperity of the region. At the 18 th ASEAN Summit held in May 2011, ASEAN Heads of State agreed to strengthen regional and international cooperation to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, enhance cooperation within existing frameworks and instruments, and emphasized the protection of the rights of victims.
"The U.S. Government is committed to ending modern-day slavery. We are proud to work in partnership with MTV EXIT, ASEAN and Australia," said David L. Carden, U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN.
Last week in Phnom Penh, MTV EXIT also hosted the first-ever MTV EXIT National Anti-Trafficking Youth Forum in Cambodia co-organized with World Vision Cambodia to empower and engage youth leaders from across the country to spread key anti-trafficking messages. The Forum brought together youth leaders ages 18 to 25 years old for a series of interactive workshops conducted by media professionals over 4 days. The Forum strengthened the youth leaders' creative skills, while challenging them to produce a campaign plan to take the fight against human trafficking back to their local communities.
H.E. Penny Richards, the Australian Ambassador to Cambodia said, "The rise of being trafficked is a real one for far too many people living in Southeast Asia. Australia is a proud supporter of MTV EXIT and continues to work closely with ASEAN and the United States on this issue of shared international concern."
For more details about human trafficking and exploitation in Asia, visit www.mtvexit.org or follow MTV EXIT on the following social media platforms: Twitter@mtvexit and www.facebook.com/mtvexit
Monday, November 7, 2011
A long journey home | National news | The Phnom Penh Post - Cambodia's Newspaper of Record
Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011110752590/National-news/a-long-journey-home.html
Monday, 07 November 2011 12:04 
MORE than 20 human trafficking victims who were enslaved aboard a fishing boat that was intercepted 6,000 kilometres from Cambodia off the tiny island nation of Mauritius were repatriated on Saturday.
In what has become a disturbingly familiar story, the men reportedly told police they had been forced on to fishing boats in Thailand after being tricked by brokers into taking jobs in Cambodia’s western neighbour.
Seven victims who were repatriated in July after being tricked into slave labour aboard Thai fishing boats said they were beaten, forced to work almost without rest, force-fed drugs and had witnessed men thrown overboard.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said last Tuesday the latest group of 24 Cambodian victims was discovered aboard a boat that was intercepted on July 28 by Mauritian maritime authorities in the country’s territorial waters.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs intervened for them, and Ministry of Interior police now have a duty to catch the brokers,” he said.
The rescued men were reluctant to talk on Saturday, briefly appearing outside the Phnom Penh International Airport before they were rushed away by Anti-Human Trafficking Police.
Nang, 24, said he was happy to finally return after spending months stuck in a detention centre in Mauritius.
“I am delighted I could arrive and see my homeland. I was ordered to fish in Thailand and Mauritius. I don’t know. It was so much more difficult than I expected,” he said.
Chiv Phally, deputy director of the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, said the men’s repatriation was an international operation that included police, government officials and the Internat-ional Organisation for Migration.
Anti-human trafficking police are now conducting interviews with all the rescued men and will begin searching for suspects along Cambodia’s border with Thailand.
Mouen Tola, head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Centre, said regional efforts to tackle the fishing boat slave labour trade had been little more than “benign propaganda”.
“I’m really upset with the . . . 10 ASEAN member countries, because if you look at the website of the ASEAN countries, they call it deterring human trafficking, but those countries still have some kind of reluctance to implement its provisions,” he said.
Mouen Tola said detailed information had been provided to the police about the location of farmers in Thailand who had trafficked some of the seven men repatriated in July, but nothing had been done to bring them to justice.
Mathieu Pellerin, a consultant with the rights group Licadho, said that once victims were trafficked on to boats, it was probably too late for any kind of systematic intervention, but authorities could crack down on brokers on the border if they had the will to do so.
Monday, 07 November 2011 12:04
- Sen David and David Boy
Photo by: Heng Chivoan
A group of 24 trafficking victims return to Cambodia on Saturday, after being picked up off the coast of Mauritius. The men were originally trafficked to Thailand, where they were put to work on fishing boats.In what has become a disturbingly familiar story, the men reportedly told police they had been forced on to fishing boats in Thailand after being tricked by brokers into taking jobs in Cambodia’s western neighbour.
Seven victims who were repatriated in July after being tricked into slave labour aboard Thai fishing boats said they were beaten, forced to work almost without rest, force-fed drugs and had witnessed men thrown overboard.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said last Tuesday the latest group of 24 Cambodian victims was discovered aboard a boat that was intercepted on July 28 by Mauritian maritime authorities in the country’s territorial waters.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs intervened for them, and Ministry of Interior police now have a duty to catch the brokers,” he said.
The rescued men were reluctant to talk on Saturday, briefly appearing outside the Phnom Penh International Airport before they were rushed away by Anti-Human Trafficking Police.
Nang, 24, said he was happy to finally return after spending months stuck in a detention centre in Mauritius.
“I am delighted I could arrive and see my homeland. I was ordered to fish in Thailand and Mauritius. I don’t know. It was so much more difficult than I expected,” he said.
Chiv Phally, deputy director of the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, said the men’s repatriation was an international operation that included police, government officials and the Internat-ional Organisation for Migration.
Anti-human trafficking police are now conducting interviews with all the rescued men and will begin searching for suspects along Cambodia’s border with Thailand.
Mouen Tola, head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Centre, said regional efforts to tackle the fishing boat slave labour trade had been little more than “benign propaganda”.
“I’m really upset with the . . . 10 ASEAN member countries, because if you look at the website of the ASEAN countries, they call it deterring human trafficking, but those countries still have some kind of reluctance to implement its provisions,” he said.
Mouen Tola said detailed information had been provided to the police about the location of farmers in Thailand who had trafficked some of the seven men repatriated in July, but nothing had been done to bring them to justice.
Mathieu Pellerin, a consultant with the rights group Licadho, said that once victims were trafficked on to boats, it was probably too late for any kind of systematic intervention, but authorities could crack down on brokers on the border if they had the will to do so.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
In Indonesia and Around the World, Human Trafficking Casts a Long Shadow | The Jakarta Globe
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/in-indonesia-and-around-the-world-human-trafficking-casts-a-long-shadow/474036
Akira Moretto | October 26, 2011
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. It results in enforced waged labor, unpaid servitude and sexual exploitation. While many of us are angered by its existence, we are often unaware of how widespread and lucrative the phenomenon really is.
Akira Moretto | October 26, 2011
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. It results in enforced waged labor, unpaid servitude and sexual exploitation. While many of us are angered by its existence, we are often unaware of how widespread and lucrative the phenomenon really is.
In
2008 alone, according to the United Nations’ International Labor
Organization, the business of human trafficking generated $31 billion
and affected 2.5 million people across 127 countries. Out of 12.3
million forced labor victims worldwide, some 2.4 million were
trafficked. To date human trafficking remains one of the world’s most
profitable businesses, alongside the trade of illegal weapons and drugs.
And while these figures are disconcertingly high, given the clandestine
nature of the trade, figures are likely to be underreported and could
reach much higher.
Human trafficking has been illegal since 1948. More recently, international awareness and abhorrence of this phenomenon has brought about punitive legislation. The UN Convention Against Trans-National Organized Crime, adopted in 2000, is currently the main international instrument used to fight this organized cross-border crime. The convention established the first definition ever of “trafficking of persons” in 2001, calling it “the acquisition of people by improper means, such as force, fraud or deception with the aim of exploiting them.” However, while the legislation does have serious consequences for those caught, human trafficking persists.
Just as rape victims, paradoxically, are often blamed for enticing their rapists, what do we say to those who blame the trafficked for “letting” themselves be trafficked? The reality is that no one chooses to be a victim of trafficking. The phenomenon is more pronounced among people facing extreme poverty, or where gender or ethnic discrimination is high. Poorer layers of society find themselves especially exposed as they search for any way out of their desperate poverty and succumb to a fallacious offer of a better life, better work or the possibility of resettling in a more prosperous country. All too often these opportunities are the doorway to an even more soul-crushing way of life than the one they left behind.
So while there is a growing awareness that slavery is wrong, and people would not knowingly offer themselves up into slavery, why is human exploitation and trafficking still a reality for so many marginalized people across so many countries, including Indonesia?
In 2011, Indonesia has been a major supplier of women, children and men trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Indeed, according to Unicef, most of the trafficked women and children have been abducted against their will for commercial and sexual exploitation within Indonesia, but many are smuggled overseas too.
Illicit recruitment agencies often play a sinister role in this trafficking process. While most labor recruitment agencies — known in Indonesian as Perusahaan Jasa Tenaga Kerja Indonesia — are legal and follow the rules on labor export practices, a number of them are unlicensed and work outside of the law, and in reality operate similarly to illegal trafficking rings.
Using slick marketing tools, these agencies seem to offer a legitimate road out of poverty. The women are often so desperate to leave their impoverished situations that they borrow money, often from these agencies themselves, and fall immediately into a cycle of debt and bondage. They need to work to repay their debt, but the only work they are offered is in the form of involuntary and unpaid servitude, ultra-low wage work or work in the sex trade, ensuring they never can repay the debt and have to continue working for the agencies.
These agencies charge fees as high as $3,000, which the victims can rarely pay back. Confiscating passports ensures that women cannot run away and return home. Some manage to contact their family to pay back the money for them, which, in the rare instances in which they can, obliges the family to sell any meager assets they may have accumulated up to that point, or borrow more money from others, thus ensuring that the family is worse off than before.
In cases involving children, the State Ministry for Women’s Empowerment reports that efforts to retrieve children who are trafficked are not particularly successful. Adolescents that drop out of school are the most vulnerable. Trapped by poor education, poor economic conditions and little or no work opportunities, they are the first to fall prey to traffickers, especially those adolescents arriving in big cities. Often they are picked up off arriving buses and around bus stations, before they can develop any meaningful support networks. Tragically, others are kidnapped from their village or handed over by their own parents as repayment of a family debt, or to rid poor parents of another hungry mouth to feed. Others are lured with promises of well-paying jobs domestically or overseas.
Even though the House of Representatives has approved a bill to punish captured human traffickers, Indonesia has still not been able to stop the flow of people sold commercially by these highly organized and ruthless networks of criminals. Individual cases have been brought to justice, but the government has failed to take more large-scale traffickers to court, reflecting an overall weakness of the Indonesian system.
It also reveals flaws in Indonesia’s cooperation with neighboring countries, where most Indonesian women end up, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and as far afield as the Middle East.
Given that most of these countries are members of Asean, with Malaysia topping the list of end destinations for Indonesian women in particular, according to the International Organization for Migration, what should we be doing, both as caring Indonesians and as concerned citizens of Asean?
At the individual level it is important to raise awareness among one’s neighbors and within one’s own family that stories of well-paying jobs that sound too good to be true, usually are just that. We should lobby the court system to give maximum sentences to traffickers and make an example of them. We should lobby our own representatives in the legislature and those in power along the now well-known trafficking routes to do their best to stop this trade, at least within their own spheres of influence. We should insist that better cooperation is undertaken at the Asean level using Asean-specific laws and protocols to ensure better chances of arrest and punishment.
Traffickers take advantage of Indonesia’s porous borders. Border areas like the Riau Islands, Kalimantan and some areas of Sulawesi that provide neighboring countries with a seemingly never-ending supply of new victims need special attention.
Human trafficking casts both a local shadow and a deeper, darker global shadow that requires global interventions. Starting at home, raising awareness among the wider public is critical, but improving conditions in the regions that supply most of those trafficked is also important.
Being secure and prosperous at home means potential victims are less likely to need to escape poverty. Lobbying is needed for those officials who are supposed to work in our interest, in the legislatures and in the court systems. Global connections need to be strengthened too. In 2007 the European Union and Asean agreed to cooperate on the joint fighting of organized crime and human trafficking. Also, several UN agencies are working closely with affected governments, including in Indonesia, and NGOs continue to play a crucial role. Seamless cooperation is the key.
It would seem we are all in the same boat, trying to overcome trafficking, but we need to row harder, and in the same direction if we are to make any headway.
Akira Moretto is deputy head of research at Strategic Asia Indonesia, a Jakarta-based consultancy that works to promote cooperation among Asian countries.
Human trafficking has been illegal since 1948. More recently, international awareness and abhorrence of this phenomenon has brought about punitive legislation. The UN Convention Against Trans-National Organized Crime, adopted in 2000, is currently the main international instrument used to fight this organized cross-border crime. The convention established the first definition ever of “trafficking of persons” in 2001, calling it “the acquisition of people by improper means, such as force, fraud or deception with the aim of exploiting them.” However, while the legislation does have serious consequences for those caught, human trafficking persists.
Just as rape victims, paradoxically, are often blamed for enticing their rapists, what do we say to those who blame the trafficked for “letting” themselves be trafficked? The reality is that no one chooses to be a victim of trafficking. The phenomenon is more pronounced among people facing extreme poverty, or where gender or ethnic discrimination is high. Poorer layers of society find themselves especially exposed as they search for any way out of their desperate poverty and succumb to a fallacious offer of a better life, better work or the possibility of resettling in a more prosperous country. All too often these opportunities are the doorway to an even more soul-crushing way of life than the one they left behind.
So while there is a growing awareness that slavery is wrong, and people would not knowingly offer themselves up into slavery, why is human exploitation and trafficking still a reality for so many marginalized people across so many countries, including Indonesia?
In 2011, Indonesia has been a major supplier of women, children and men trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Indeed, according to Unicef, most of the trafficked women and children have been abducted against their will for commercial and sexual exploitation within Indonesia, but many are smuggled overseas too.
Illicit recruitment agencies often play a sinister role in this trafficking process. While most labor recruitment agencies — known in Indonesian as Perusahaan Jasa Tenaga Kerja Indonesia — are legal and follow the rules on labor export practices, a number of them are unlicensed and work outside of the law, and in reality operate similarly to illegal trafficking rings.
Using slick marketing tools, these agencies seem to offer a legitimate road out of poverty. The women are often so desperate to leave their impoverished situations that they borrow money, often from these agencies themselves, and fall immediately into a cycle of debt and bondage. They need to work to repay their debt, but the only work they are offered is in the form of involuntary and unpaid servitude, ultra-low wage work or work in the sex trade, ensuring they never can repay the debt and have to continue working for the agencies.
These agencies charge fees as high as $3,000, which the victims can rarely pay back. Confiscating passports ensures that women cannot run away and return home. Some manage to contact their family to pay back the money for them, which, in the rare instances in which they can, obliges the family to sell any meager assets they may have accumulated up to that point, or borrow more money from others, thus ensuring that the family is worse off than before.
In cases involving children, the State Ministry for Women’s Empowerment reports that efforts to retrieve children who are trafficked are not particularly successful. Adolescents that drop out of school are the most vulnerable. Trapped by poor education, poor economic conditions and little or no work opportunities, they are the first to fall prey to traffickers, especially those adolescents arriving in big cities. Often they are picked up off arriving buses and around bus stations, before they can develop any meaningful support networks. Tragically, others are kidnapped from their village or handed over by their own parents as repayment of a family debt, or to rid poor parents of another hungry mouth to feed. Others are lured with promises of well-paying jobs domestically or overseas.
Even though the House of Representatives has approved a bill to punish captured human traffickers, Indonesia has still not been able to stop the flow of people sold commercially by these highly organized and ruthless networks of criminals. Individual cases have been brought to justice, but the government has failed to take more large-scale traffickers to court, reflecting an overall weakness of the Indonesian system.
It also reveals flaws in Indonesia’s cooperation with neighboring countries, where most Indonesian women end up, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and as far afield as the Middle East.
Given that most of these countries are members of Asean, with Malaysia topping the list of end destinations for Indonesian women in particular, according to the International Organization for Migration, what should we be doing, both as caring Indonesians and as concerned citizens of Asean?
At the individual level it is important to raise awareness among one’s neighbors and within one’s own family that stories of well-paying jobs that sound too good to be true, usually are just that. We should lobby the court system to give maximum sentences to traffickers and make an example of them. We should lobby our own representatives in the legislature and those in power along the now well-known trafficking routes to do their best to stop this trade, at least within their own spheres of influence. We should insist that better cooperation is undertaken at the Asean level using Asean-specific laws and protocols to ensure better chances of arrest and punishment.
Traffickers take advantage of Indonesia’s porous borders. Border areas like the Riau Islands, Kalimantan and some areas of Sulawesi that provide neighboring countries with a seemingly never-ending supply of new victims need special attention.
Human trafficking casts both a local shadow and a deeper, darker global shadow that requires global interventions. Starting at home, raising awareness among the wider public is critical, but improving conditions in the regions that supply most of those trafficked is also important.
Being secure and prosperous at home means potential victims are less likely to need to escape poverty. Lobbying is needed for those officials who are supposed to work in our interest, in the legislatures and in the court systems. Global connections need to be strengthened too. In 2007 the European Union and Asean agreed to cooperate on the joint fighting of organized crime and human trafficking. Also, several UN agencies are working closely with affected governments, including in Indonesia, and NGOs continue to play a crucial role. Seamless cooperation is the key.
It would seem we are all in the same boat, trying to overcome trafficking, but we need to row harder, and in the same direction if we are to make any headway.
Akira Moretto is deputy head of research at Strategic Asia Indonesia, a Jakarta-based consultancy that works to promote cooperation among Asian countries.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Asean to strengthen fight against human trafficking…will dry up land of smiles « KHAMERLOGUE
ASEAN trade and economic ministers at 18th Summit photo:AP
The leaders will acknowledge ‘the urgent need for a comprehensive regional approach and a legal instrument’ that will enable Asean’s 10 member states to help victims, especially women and children, it said.
The trafficking of people including women and children for forced or low-paid labour such as prostitution is a major problem in South-east Asia, but governments have often been accused of doing little to fight the smugglers.
This could change at the weekend when Asean leaders vow to ‘strengthen regional and international cooperation’ and improve the region’s ability to investigate smuggling syndicates, according to the draft document.
Measures will be put in place to ensure that victims are ‘treated humanely and provided with such essential medical and other forms of assistance’, including prompt repatriation to their countries of origin, it says.
Asean to strengthen fight against human trafficking…will dry up land of smiles « KHAMERLOGUE
Source: KHAMERLOGUE
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Battling sea-mediated human trafficking
11-25-2010 16:38 By Pooja Theresa StanslasIn Malaysia, open borders were the norm during late 19th and early 20th century leading to an influx of ethnic Indians and Chinese, but that has changed significantly in post-colonial Malaysia. The government’s choice however, cannot be between closing the doors to a foreign labor force and completely doing away with border controls. The first option will deprive the labor-intensive and labor-dependent economic sectors of workers and given the reality of non-traditional security threats the second option of opening up the borders will be tantamount to inviting transnational criminals to operate with impunity. Border control is an element of national sovereignty and when we lose control of significant parts of this through ineffective controls, transnational human trafficking syndicates will exploit the situation to engage in the lucrative illicit trade in human flesh. Trafficking in persons is estimated to generate $32 billion yearly, perpetuated mainly by the fact the risk to reward ratio is almost nil aided by natural forces of migration as well as poor socio-political and economic conditions in the country of origin and the relatively prosperous neighboring countries. Corrupt law enforcement officials worsen the situation. The seas, as an inexpensive mode of transport, have always been a popular medium for transnational movement of peoples since pre-colonial times especially through the Straits of Malacca, the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea and the South China Sea. However, the long, porous and less monitored coastlines of Malaysia has led to easy and inconspicuous access for a thriving trade in modern day slavery by human trafficking groups. Malaysia is a littoral state with 4,675km-long coastline and the growing illegal cross-border trafficking of humans in recent years has made the government anxious especially in view of rapid economic globalization, worldwide economic crisis and increasing maritime trade and the nation’s dependency on it. There are fears that extremists could use trans-border criminals to seep through the borders as evidence have emerged that extremists groups also engage in trafficking to fund their activities. Analyzing the trafficking problem is complicated by the difficulty of differentiating it with human smuggling. The latter relates to voluntary movements of people through illegal channels by engaging the services of smuggling syndicates; trafficking is involuntary involving significant deception, coercion and control of movement of victims. The issue becomes even more complex when smuggled migrants are forced to work in debt bondage to pay off the smugglers which effectively defines them as trafficked individuals. The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (ATIP) was enacted in 2007 prompted by Malaysia’s blacklisting in Tier 3 in the 2007 and 2009 Annual U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report. To date 168 have been prosecuted and only 16 convicted; 1,200 victims have been rescued since 2008. However, the government’s recent amendment to the ATIP to include smuggling of people will only hamper efforts at tackling trafficking effectively. Front-line law enforcement officials may treat trafficking victims as undocumented migrants aggravated by the illicit nature and quality of the crime. Selective restrictions in border control have led to the expansion of the fake document industry abetted by corrupt border officials. The trafficking prone areas or hotspots include the Straits of Malacca, the Sabah-Kalimantan-Philippines borders as well as the Singapore-Johor boundary and increasingly the South China Sea. Victims are mostly Indonesians, Filipinos, Cambodians, and Vietnamese with an increasing exodus from post-conflict states such as Iraq, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Tackling the trafficking threat in Malaysia is not easy. Though coordination and collaboration of national, regional and international bodies are essential in practice, it is a complex task. Vast ocean spaces and long stretches of less governed coastlines in the Southeast Asian archipelago produce porous borders complicating monitoring and security surveillance. As for law enforcement agencies, poor communication, duplication of efforts and conflicting mandates should not get in the way of effectual and immediate responses. Existence of deep-seated rivalries between competing government agencies, particularly when budgets and funding are at stake, should be minimized by having clear-cut boundaries related to jurisdiction. In addition, there have been allegations that law enforcement officials have been involved in facilitating trafficking by accepting bribes from traffickers. However, all is not lost. A multi-sector approach is the key toward an effective resolution. Outmaneuvering trafficking syndicates must involve strengthening border controls through greater law enforcement policy involving aggressive maritime security surveillance and augmented patrols. This must be accompanied by effectual anti-trafficking strategies such as victim identification and protection. Bringing ATIP back in line with U.N. definition of human trafficking is crucial. The victims should also be given temporary work permits to enlist their cooperation for the prosecution of offenders. Effective transnational and regional collaboration should not be hampered by cultural and linguistic differences and different laws, understandings and policies related to trafficking. These issues must be addressed at the ASEAN level as well as through transnational collaboration such as the Bali Process and the Five Power Defense Arrangements. Reforming our immigration policy is crucial to curb this undocumented migration in addition to greater Malaysia economic investment to generate employment in source countries. Traffickers target those who are already planning to migrate but due to strict immigration laws they fall victim to trafficking groups to facilitate their entry. Thus, a regularization policy will make it easier for legal entry of unskilled labor into Malaysia to meet their economic needs. This will also satisfy demand for cheap labor in economic sectors which locals do not find lucrative. The government is losing out millions to trafficking syndicates and a better migration management will ensure revenue from the foreign workers who will cease to find the need to engage trafficking intermediaries. Human trafficking phenomenon is governable when measures related to border security, migration and socio-economic and political factors are treated with utmost urgency and swift action. Pooja Theresa Stanslas works for a maritime research institute based in Malaysia. |
Source: The Korean Times |
Thursday, November 4, 2010
ASEANWEB - ASEAN Bulletin - November 2010
ASEAN Bulletin An “ASEAN Handbook on International Legal Cooperation in Trafficking in Persons Cases” to help improve cooperation between criminal justice officials who are involved in cross-border trafficking investigations, was launched in Manila recently. The Handbook provides a step-by-step guide to pursuing transnational trafficking cases where victims, perpetrators and evidence are located in more than one country. It outlines the key forms of international cooperation, from informal police-to-police assistance to mutual legal assistance and extradition, as well as full documentation for making or responding to a request for cooperation. The standards set out in key international and regional treaties relating to transnational organised crime; corruption; and international legal cooperation are also clearly explained in the Handbook to strengthen the collaboration amongst the law enforcement, judiciary and prosecutorial officials of ASEAN. In introducing the Handbook, the Secretary-General of ASEAN acknowledged the scale of the challenges currently facing national criminal justice agencies in dealing with this complex crime. “In every part of the world, including our own, traffickers are rarely identified, prosecuted and convicted. This is a particular problem for countries of destination, where the most serious forms of exploitation usually take place. In addition, victims of trafficking rarely receive any form of justice or redress for the harms committed against them,” said Dr Surin Pitsuwan. The Handbook was launched at the side of the 10th Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime on 27 October 2010. It was prepared by technical experts involved in the Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project (ARTIP), through the Australian Government Overseas Aid Program (AusAID), and funded by the Australian Government and the European Union, through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). | |
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